A standoff between the police and the Presidential Security Service continued for eight hours on Wednesday as officers attempted to raid the presidential office on allegations that former President Yoon Suk Yeol and secret service agents illegally obstructed Yoon’s arrest in January. 

The special police team handling the December 3 martial law case tried to execute a search warrant at the top office in Seoul’s Yongsan District and the entrance to the presidential residence in the district’s Hannam neighborhood at 10:13 a.m. Wednesday.

But the police and the secret service were still locked in a confrontation as of 6 p.m., with the latter refusing to authorize the search. 

While the reason for the refusal has yet to be disclosed, under the Criminal Procedure Act, any search and seizure operation at a location that holds military or official secrets requires permission from a person in charge.

The targets of the latest warrant include a server for secret phones used by the secret service agency, the agency’s offices near the presidential residence and the residence of its chief. 

The police suspect Yoon and other officials of obstruction of special official duty because of their actions on January 3, when law enforcement officers made their initial attempt to execute a warrant for the former president’s arrest in the martial law case.